U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,339 issued to C. Newman, discloses a roller mechanism for moving rain water over a tennis court to assist in drying the court surface. The roller surface is defined by a polyurethane foam sleeve having a relatively low porosity and water-absorbency characteristic. The aim is to have the roller surface make sealing contact with the surface of the tennis court, such that the roller acts as a plow to propel the water over the court surface in front of the roller.
The present invention is directed to a mechanism for removing rain water from tennis courts, but in a somewhat different fashion than as proposed in Newman U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,339. The present invention utilizes a large diameter roller having a sponge sleeve formed of a material having the ability to absorb water into its pores. A second relatively small diameter roller is arranged directly behind the large diameter roller to squeeze the sponge sleeve and thus remove the water that has been removed from the tennis court surface. A water collection tank is arranged below the small diameter roller to receive the water squeezed out of the sponge sleeve.
A source of heated gas is arranged downstream from the water collection tank to heat the still-moist court surface, thereby evaporating most, if not all, of the remaining moisture.